MARIGOT--Voting to choose the presidents, substitutes and secretaries for the four district councils of the French side took place in the conference hall of Hotel de La Collectivité on Friday afternoon. This was the third installation of the district councils since St. Martin became an overseas Collectivité.
The voting was observed by Préfète Déléguée Sylvie Feucher, First Vice-President Valérie Damaseau and an appointed Bailiff to ensure all procedures were legally followed.
Members of each district, in the order of one to four, eligible for the positions took their seats in the hall before the voting was conducted. Districts voted for their own representative or president, substitute and secretary. Introductions were first made by the Préfète and Damaseau.
James “Jimmy” Gumbs was voted the representative of district one (15 members) receiving 13 of the votes. His substitute will be Agnes Pindi-Alexander and the Secretary is Graziella Clicheroux.
Jean-David Richardson will be the representative of district two (21 members) after receiving a unanimous vote. Angèle Hodge is his substitute and secretary will be René Arrondell. All three positions received a unanimous vote for the candidates.
District three’s representative (21 members) will be Isabelle Artsen. Thierry Sylvestre is her substitute and secretary is Evelyne Ratchel-Jacob.
Cedric André is the representative for district four (15 members). His substitute is Luciana Raspail and secretary will be Maryse Riner.
At the conclusion of the voting for each district, the representative of each stood up to give a word of thanks and a short outline of their objectives. That was followed by a group photo of each district with the Préfète and Damaseau.
As a reminder, districts one and four are composed of 15 members, eight chosen by the President of the Territorial Council, and seven more were selected by a draw. Districts two and three are composed of 21 members each, 11 chosen by the Territorial Council President and 10 selected from a draw. What used to be six district councils has now been consolidated into four districts.
The election was conducted by Dania Amacin, assistant director and council coordinator for Democracie Locale. Prior to voting, the interior rules of the councils were explained.
Damaseau explained that the law gives the Executive Council the right to choose nominated members (titulaires) for each district in the first instance while the remaining members are selected through a draw. Former representatives Paul Whit, Georges “Baj” Richardson and Patricia Chance-Duzant were not chosen by the Executive Council, however, their names were in the box. Paul Whit was the only one of the three to have his name pulled out in the draw, making him eligible to contest the election if he had wanted to.
“It was a political choice, but nothing to do with the individuals themselves, “Damaseau insisted when asked about their exclusion. “I have tremendous admiration for what Paul Whit and Georges Richardson have been doing in their districts through their respective associations. I never doubted that, and I want them to continue.
“But for the role of the district councils there’s more to it. Projects need to be proposed in consultation with the population, then to ascertain if they were well received or not. Ideas can be brought up if it appears government has missed something that needs to be done or implemented.
She added that each district will have two agents from the Collectivité compared to one before. The second agent will be responsible for doing a diagnostic of the district; how many associations there are, the population, average age of the inhabitants, proportion of youth to elderly, number of active businesses, what activities are needed, etcetera. If there are construction projects in a district, workers from the insertion associations in that district will be used, thereby ensuring there is pride in the project.
“I appeal to the districts to fulfil their role and missions to the fullest, and to mobilise the population in this important period of reconstruction,” she concluded.
